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Fundamental movement skills testing in children with cerebral palsy
Catherine M Capio1, Cindy H P Sit, Bruce Abernethy
1Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. ccapio08@hku.hk
Insights
Product-oriented measures for fundamental movement skills in children with cerebral palsy (CP) show stronger links to functional abilities than process-oriented measures, particularly in catching, kicking, and running. These findings support their use in rehabilitation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Physical Therapy
- Motor Development in Cerebral Palsy
- Movement Assessment
Background:
- Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are crucial for children's development.
- Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often exhibit difficulties with FMS.
- Accurate assessment of FMS is vital for effective intervention in CP.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of product-oriented and process-oriented FMS measures.
- To compare the validity of these measures in children with CP.
- To determine which measurement approach better reflects functional abilities in children with CP.
Main Methods:
- Thirty children (aged 6-14 years) with CP (GMFCS levels I-III) participated.
- FMS assessed included catching, throwing, kicking, jumping, and running.
- Process-oriented (Test of Gross Motor Development-2) and product-oriented (time, distance, success rate) measures were used.
Main Results:
- High inter-rater reliability was observed for both measure types.
- Process-oriented measures correlated with GMFCS for running and jumping.
- Product-oriented measures showed stronger associations with GMFCS for catching, kicking, and running.
Conclusions:
- Both process- and product-oriented measures demonstrate validity for assessing FMS in children with CP.
- Product-oriented measures appear more strongly associated with functional abilities, especially for catching, kicking, and running.
- Product-oriented measures are recommended for use in CP rehabilitation settings.
Purpose:
To examine the inter-rater reliability and comparative validity of product-oriented and process-oriented measures of fundamental movement skills among children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Method:
In total, 30 children with CP aged 6 to 14 years (Mean = 9.83, SD = 2.5) and classified in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III performed tasks of catching, throwing, kicking, horizontal jumping and running. Process-oriented assessment was undertaken using a number of components of the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2), while product-oriented assessment included measures of time taken, distance covered and number of successful task completions. Cohen's kappa, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and tests to compare correlated correlation coefficients were performed.
Results:
Very good inter-rater reliability was found. Process-oriented measures for running and jumping had significant associations with GMFCS, as did seven product-oriented measures for catching, throwing, kicking, running and jumping. Product-oriented measures of catching, kicking and running had stronger associations with GMFCS than the corresponding process-oriented measures.
Conclusion:
Findings support the validity of process-oriented measures for running and jumping and of product-oriented measures of catching, throwing, kicking, running and jumping. However, product-oriented measures for catching, kicking and running appear to have stronger associations with functional abilities of children with CP, and are thus recommended for use in rehabilitation processes.
